Opening Ceremonies

I hate that people glorify what happened in Beijing just because it looked impressive.

CGI fireworks, a little girl singing in the basement because she was too ugly for TV, and, oh, a director who admitted that it could never be re-created in the West because of that pesky irritation: "human rights".

Whatever London does, nobody will have been forced to rehearse outdoors for 16 hours a day, nobody will be wearing adult diapers to avoid needing toilet breaks, nobody will end up paralysed from the waist down as a result of poor health and safety standards, and nobody will have had to move to an army camp for three months without the freedom to leave in the evenings.

That opening ceremony made a mockery of the Olympic ideals, but because it was spectacular people remember it as the best ever, and will inevitably make jokes at the expense of whatever Britain does tonight.  It saddens me.






Going to the Camden Roundhouse tonight to watch on a big screen.  I'm totally anti-opening ceremonies as a rule - here for the sport, not the dancing - but Danny Boyle's closely guarded extravaganza has me curious at least.